Navigate Conference 2024 is just around the corner! New information to come on the SCSBC website.

In the meantime, please check out photos from the 2023 conference here!

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The Business & Development Conference has a new name!

NAVIGATE: The SCSBC Conference for Advancement & Finance

Mark your calendars for the conference: April 2-4, 2023

New location! Coast Tsawwassen Inn, Tsawwassen BC For hotel bookings, call 604 943 8221 and quote “SCSBC Business & Development Conference” or Folio: GF3072

Keynote speaker: Dr Rod Wilson
Theme: Charting a Course

Scroll down to the bottom of this page for information about installing the conference app.

Plenary & Workshops

PLENARY

Navigating Money’s Value, Virtue, and Vice – Dr Rod Wilson

If you work with money, you know its value, the requirement of virtue, and the danger of vice. We will explore how you can navigate these choppy waters in a way that reflects the integrity of the gospel.
Advancement & Finance workshops with Rod (same description for both)

Money: Biography, Theology, Philosophy, Community

When you are working in a school and are dealing with money, you need to grapple with your story (biography), God’s story (theology), your framework (philosophy) and the organization (community). This interactive session will provide space to make these links and explore the implications for your day-to-day functioning.

FINANCE WORKSHOPS

Improving Your School’s Business Processes – Karen Chang, Umbrella Consulting, and Sabrina Fung, Vancouver Christian School

Many schools struggle with a patchwork of procedures, staff, and software, often resulting in lost efficiency and frustration. Karen and Sabrina will share some of the results of a business process review that Umbrella Consulting conducted at VCS in the fall of 2022 that will apply to other schools and help outline some best practices to which schools can aspire.

Social Enterprise and Business Activities – Luke Johnson and Rhys Volkenant, DeJager Volkenant

Many charities are looking for innovative ways to generate additional revenue to fund their operations. Others are trying to find more ways to impact their surrounding community and the world. Luke and Rhys will outline some legal aspects that schools should consider before engaging in social enterprise and business activities.

Building a Better Relationship with Your Bank – Jerry Huang and Mark Beines, TD Bank

How can your school benefit from a closer relationship with its bank? When your school needs funds for operations or capital projects, how should you approach your bank, and what will they need in return from you? How can your bank help your school manage its cash flows and investing activities? Jerry and Mark are leaders for TD Bank’s education clients in Greater Vancouver, and they will share advice from a banker’s perspective that will help your school leverage a stronger connection to its bank.

ADVANCEMENT WORKSHOPS

Making Your Case Golden – Doris Olafsen

Does your school have the vision to build a building? Are there particular projects or programs that need funding? Would you like to ramp up your communication tools? If you answered YES to one or all these questions, you might be interested in learning what it takes to write a compelling Case for Support. This workshop will walk you through the six elements of a dynamic case that could take your fundraising efforts to the next level and help your school’s visionary dreams come true.

Anchor Your Marketing in Strategy – An interview panel with the Captain and First Mate of Anchor Marketing Inc.

Effective marketing for nonprofits and educational institutions is critical, with each crew looking for the best way to manoeuvre today’s competitive waters. But marketing is hard work. It’s like managing a sailboat. One needs to be familiar with all the parts of the boat and how they operate together before one can plot your course and set sail.

It’s also important to be strategically shrewd as you steward your resources. Anchor Marketing believes that marketing without a strategy is like a boat without a rudder. You may move forward, but you will (more times than not) find yourself adrift and frustrated that you aren’t going in the direction you intended.

SCSBC is excited to welcome Danielle Gagner and Rhoda Strutt from Anchor Marketing, who will answer questions on key topics such as branding, integrated marketing, donor relations, donor cultivation, and fostering intergenerational loyalty.

The Heart of Volunteering – Michael Musgrove & Amber Neufeld

Volunteering is a pivotal way to create engagement and build relationships and commitment between your school, the volunteer, and your school community. It goes beyond the completion of basic tasks. A successful volunteer experience can be accomplished through the facilitation of the relationships between the volunteer, the administrative team, staff, and students. If relationship is the emphasis, both the volunteer and the school will equally benefit from the experience. What does this look like in our Post-Covid world? What do you do with difficult volunteers? Where is the balance between effective training and minimizing the hoops people need to jump through to be a part of your volunteer team? And how do you build strong connections and create positive change in your community through relationships within a diverse cultural landscape?

Conference Schedule

SUNDAY
Sunday evening is an optional time for socializing and networking.
7:00 – 8:00 Table Talk: • Finance • Development • Admissions
8:00 – 9:00 Reception – sponsored by Westland Insurance

MONDAY
8:30 – 9:00 Opening devotions & worship
9:00 – 10:15 Plenary Session – Navigating Money’s Value, Virtue, and Vice – Rod Wilson
10:15 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 12:00 Workshops
Advancement – Telling your Story – Doris Olafsen
Finance – Money: Biography, Theology, Philosophy, Community – Rod Wilson
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch – sponsored by CapriCMW Insurance
1:00 – 2:15 Workshops
Advancement – Money: Biography, Theology, Philosophy, Community – Rod Wilson
Finance – Improving Your School’s Business Processes – Karen Chang and Sabrina Fung
2:15 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 3:45 Table Talk: • Finance • Development • Admissions
4:00 – 6:00 Activity / free time
6:30 – 7:30 Dinner
7:30 – 9:00 Hospitality (optional) – sponsored by DeJager Volkenant

TUESDAY
8:30 – 9:00 Worship
9:00 – 10:15 Workshops
Advancement – The Heart of Volunteering – Michael Musgrove & Amber Neufeld
Finance – Social Enterprise and Business Activities – DeJager Volkenant
10:15 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 12:00 Workshops
Advancement – Panel Discussion – Danielle Gagner (Anchor Marketing)
Finance – Building a Better Relationship with Your Bank – Jerry Huang and Mark Beirnes
12:00 – 12:15 Closing